‘I don’t feel any regrets’ – Sainz reflects on leaving McLaren in 2020 and potential lost F1 title bid

Carlos Sainz admits he has no regrets over leaving McLaren for Ferrari at the end of 2020, despite losing the chance of possibly fighting for a World Championship at his former team.

The Spaniard joined the Scuderia at the start of 2021 and, during a four-year spell, claimed four victories before moving to Williams in 2025 after being replaced at Ferrari by Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Sainz was asked whether he felt he could have claimed last year’s Drivers’ Championship title instead of Lando Norris had he stayed at McLaren.

“No. And I tell you, why not? Because first of all, in 2021, in Ferrari, I achieved my first podiums of my career,” said Sainz.

“In 2022, I won my first races and in 2023, while I was still winning races in Ferrari, McLaren were still almost dead last in the Qualifying of Bahrain. I would have thought back then, ‘I would be winning races with Ferrari’.

“I think it [leaving McLaren] was the right thing to do at the right time. And the only thing I feel is happiness for the team. I feel honestly happy for them. I don’t feel any regrets.

“Lando has been always quick since the day he became an F1 driver. I think he’s just become a bit more of an all rounder through the last six years, and, he’s become more championship material. And then he confirmed it in 2025 with a very strong second part of the season.”

Sainz joined Williams last season in a move which placed the 31-year-old at a midfield team, and despite a difficult start to the campaign, he came away with two podiums before the end of the year.

Although the start of the 2026 season has been difficult so far, and has included a best result of only P9 in China, Sainz has looked at McLaren’s turnaround from 2020 to double teams’ champions and a drivers’ title with Norris as inspiration for his own career.

“I think every team on every journey is completely different, but the stage that I think I found Williams in 2025, I think I would say it’s a very similar journey to where I found McLaren in 2019, 2020,” he said.

“I don’t know how long it will take Williams compared to McLaren and still, what McLaren has done of becoming World Champions eventually is an extremely difficult task.

“Because even if Williams can become more competitive through the next few years, then to win is another step that is even more difficult. So congratulations to McLaren for that. But yeah, I would say Williams is in a similar point, from where McLaren were in 2019.

“[Williams is] a life project, because, I’m 31-years-old now and I feel I can enter the next few years of my career with a very clear target in mind, which is try and help this team and go back to the front of the field.”